The Art Of Making the World's Best Cheddar

For us, the art of cheese making begins in Cabot, Vermont, where the most talented cheese makers combine the purest ingredients with a long tradition of quality and great taste to produce our award-winning cheeses.

Wondering how Cabot's Award-Winning Cheddar Cheese is made?

It starts with the freshest milk gathered from our farm families’ cows, and ends several steps later with the World's Best Cheddar—and other celebrated flavors crafted to please every taste…whether used in a favorite recipe or enjoyed all alone.

Here is how Cheesemaking Works:

High quality cow’s milk is gathered from Cabot farmers, then pasteurized by heating to exactly 162° F for exactly 16 seconds, then cooled to a steady 88° F.

This perfectly pasteurized milk is poured into a large vat. A starter culture of bacteria is added, along with an enzyme known as Rennet, which helps the starter culture grow, turning the milk into cheese.

Stainless steel wires are used to cut the developing cheese mass into small cubes of curd. The liquid that separates from the curds is what we call whey.

Once the curds and whey are cooked, they’re pumped to a finishing table where the whey is drained off, and salt is added to the cheese to enhance flavor and slow acid development. This is also when we add herbs and other ingredients to make flavored specialty cheeses.

The cheese curds are then packed together under pressure to create 42lb. blocks that are vacuum-sealed in plastic, or hand-packed into round wax forms. These are moved to a temperature-controlled warehouse, where our Cheddars are aged to perfection.

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